Maemo Minute #3: There's a '.deb' for that...

The Nokia N900 has everything going for it. Killer hardware that makes mouths drop, a great OS enabling you to be as connected as possible while out and about, all in a package that fits in your pocket.

This week, we can also add another feather in the cap, so to speak - the opening of the N900 OVI store. This has brought the N900 into the spotlight as a platform for commercial developers. The maemo.org community is sure to benefit from this as the platform finally has the 'public' cachet it deserves. We've been fortunate to have a large community developer-base, and this is a welcome addition to that existing talent. Expect fun games, eye popping whiz-bang gizmos, and who knows what else. I've already entertained myself with a few games like Airport and Discs. Meanwhile, it is fun to show off gizmos such as Anglemeter and Level. I received the comment last night that "no phone should have a protractor in it!", after showing off the Anglemeter application to a friend.

Maemo's future is looking great! Hopefully, in short time, the OVI store will be chock full of apps for our Maemo-powered handhelds. Whatever it is we desire, I certainly hope there will be an app - no, a .deb for that.

Maemo Minute #2: N900 & Bluetooth DUN

Philip Langdale's bluetooth dial-up networking daemon (BT-DUN) for the Nokia N900 is a real godsend. Now I can tether my N800 and my laptop to my N900.

OK... What does that mean for an average N900 user?

I setup a BT-DUN connection to the N900 on my Win XP Pro laptop for those times at the airport when I need more screen real estate than the N900 affords. For a single user, this is a great way to share an internet connection.

I'm planning on setting up my N800 as an in-car computer with OS2008 maps, Canola and Carman as the 3 anticipated usage scenarios.

Why not the N900 for in-car use? Simple. Screen Size! At arms length, the N800's screen makes manipulating buttons much more friendly.

In addition, on long trips, I can pass of my well used N800 to my passenger to surf while the shiny N900 sits in its cradle or jacket pocket (no selfishness there).

Interestingly, while a device is connected via BT-DUN, the N900 is able to maintain its own internet connection. Either the same connection as the tethered device, or a different one (wi-fi, for example). The screenshots below show that the N900 is connected to wi-fi while the N800 is tethered to it using the cellular data connection.

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Figure 1: N900 IP while N800 is tethered (N900 on wi-fi and N800 on cellular data)


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Figure 2: N800 IP while N800 is tethered (N900 on wi-fi and N800 on cellular data)

Merry N8X0 Drivers to All !

Carsten Munk, our maemo.org distmaster sent me an IM this morning. It looks like he and his Mer team have received the fabled OMAP2 graphics drivers from Texas Instruments. They have had some success in meshing the drivers into the OS, and things are going forward on that front.

I'm sure it is not a straightforward task, so let's give the Mer team some space while they work this all out. Things will get interesting for the legacy N8X0 devices!

Happy Holidays to all !

(Post created on my N900 using the wonderful MaStory blogging application)

N900 + Windmobile.ca - So close, yet So far...

On a hunch, I decided to scan available GSM operators from my N900 this morning in Toronto. Wouldn't you know it, 'CAN 490' was displayed showing a nice little '3G' symbol beside it !

But alas, when attempting to connect, I was denied.

Some Googling of CAN 490 revealed that it is indeed Windmobile (Globalalive Wireless).

Come on Canada - we need choice now! Let Windmobile throw the switch.

A Maemo Minute

A friend was over on Sunday. His iPhone rang, and he took a call. After the call, I showed him the loaner N900 that I have. After playing with the media player, multi-tasking, desktop, and liking the 'call type' selector, he commented: "This is sick! It's like a Mobile Computer".

To which I replied "Precisely".

Maemo Summit News: N8X0 OMAP2 Graphics Drivers

Although the primary focus of the Summit was Maemo 5 and the N900, there was some very welcome and long-awaited news for legacy OMAP2 devices. Texas Instruments announced at the Summit on Friday that they would be releasing the graphics drivers for the processors powering the N800, N810 and N810WE in the next 2 weeks. This is great news for the community, as it means that it will be possible to jazz up the UI for Mer and Maemo 4. Classic tablet owners may have some fun in store for them in the near future.

Maemo Summit 2009-Thank You!

I would like to publicly thank the Maemo Community Council and the Maemo Devices team for all their hard work in organizing the Summit at Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. The event was a great success.



Not only were all the arrangements well done (hotel, airfare, food, summit venue, photo/video recording, after hours party), but so were all the presentations by Nokia, Distinguished Guests, and Community Members. Of course, the most tangible thing from the weekend in Amsterdam was the loan of the beautiful N900 from Maemo Devices. Everyone was Ecstatic when Ari announced that all 300 non-Nokia participants would receive a pre-production N900 for 6 months for evaluation. I am still pinching myself ... did that really happen?!



Listening to all the talks on Friday and the Community talks on Saturday and Sunday left me with the feeling that Nokia is building some serious excitement around Maemo 5, and in particular, the N900. With the N900 in stores soon, Nokia can start to shift some attention to Maemo 6 (Harmattan). Indeed, that appears to be the case, as evidenced by the number of Maemo 6 talks that were there. I've said this before, but the future of the Maemo line looks promising - Thank You.